[Federal Register: December 9, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 236)]
[Notices]
[Page 73206-73208]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09de05-38]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration
[Docket No. 050317077-5319-02]
Environmental Literacy Grants
AGENCY: Office of Education (OEd), Office of the Undersecretary of
Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (USEC), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice and request for proposals.
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SUMMARY: The NOAA Office of Education (OEd) is issuing a request for
applications for environmental literacy projects. Projects selected for
funding will have a duration between one and five years and will (1)
further the use and incorporation of the Ocean Literacy Essential
Principles and Fundamental Concepts in formal and informal education
and/or measure ocean literacy among the public; or (2) strengthen the
capacity to develop a workforce knowledgeable in weather and climate.
All projects shall employ the strategies articulated in the NOAA
Education Plan and involve NOAA entities as partners. It is anticipated
that final recommendations for funding under this announcement will be
made by June 30, 2006, and that projects funded under this announcement
will have a start date no earlier than September 1, 2006.
DATES: Letters of Interest are required for all applications and must
be received by 5 p.m., e.s.t., January 25, 2006. The deadline for full
applications is 5 p.m., e.s.t. on March 1, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Letters of Interest should be submitted to Sarah Schoedinger
at sarah.schoedinger@noaa.gov. If an
[[Page 73207]]
applicant does not have Internet access, a hard copy of the letter of
interest may be mailed to Sarah Schoedinger, DOC/NOAA, Office of
Education, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 6863, Washington, DC
20230. Please note: Hard copies submitted via the U.S. Postal Service
can take up to 4 weeks to reach this office; applicants are recommended
to send hard copies via expedited shipping methods (e.g., Airborne
Express, DHL, Fed Ex, UPS).
Full applications should be submitted through Grants.gov APPLY
(http://www.grants.gov). If an applicant does not have Internet access,
one hard copy should be sent to Sarah Schoedinger, DOC/NOAA, Office of
Education, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 6863, Washington, DC
20230. If submitting a hard copy, applicants are requested to provide a
CD--ROM of the application, including scanned signed forms or forms
with electronic signatures. This announcement will also be available
at: http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/funding_opps.html or by contacting the
program official identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah Schoedinger at
sarah.schoedinger@noaa.gov, telephone 202-482-2893.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NOAA Office of Education (OEd) is
issuing a request for applications for environmental literacy projects.
Projects selected for funding will have a duration between one and five
years and will (1) further the use and incorporation of the Ocean
Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts (http://www.coexploration.org/oceanliteracy/documents/OceanLitConcepts_10.11.05.pdf
) in formal and informal education and/or measure ocean
literacy among the public; or (2) strengthen the capacity to develop a
workforce knowledgeable in weather and climate. All projects shall
employ the strategies articulated in the NOAA Education Plan (http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/NOAA_Ed_Plan.pdf
) and involve NOAA entities as
partners. It is anticipated that final recommendations for funding
under this announcement will be made by June 30, 2006, and that
projects funded under this announcement will have a start date no
earlier than September 1, 2006. A detailed description for each program
priority is in the full funding opportunity announcement that can be
accessed via the Grants.gov Web site, the NOAA Web site at http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/funding_opps.html
, or by contacting the program
official identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Electronic Access
The full text of the full funding opportunity announcement for this
OEd program can be accessed via the Grants.gov FIND Web site. That
announcement will also be available at the NOAA Web site: http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/funding_opps.html
or by contacting the program
officials identified under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Applicants
must comply with all requirements contained in the full funding
opportunity announcement. This Federal Register notice is available
through the NOAA Home page at: http://www.noaa.gov/.
Statutory Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1540; P.L. 109-108, Department of
Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006.
CFDA: 11.469, Congressionally Identified Awards and Projects
Funding Availability
NOAA announces the availability of approximately $3,000,000 of
Federal financial assistance in FY 2006 for Environmental Literacy
projects. Approximately 5 to 10 awards in the form of grants or
cooperative agreements will be made. NOAA will only consider projects
that have a duration between 1 to 5 years. The total Federal amount for
all years that may be requested from NOAA for the direct and indirect
costs of the proposed project shall not exceed $600,000. The minimum
Federal amount that must be requested from NOAA for all years for the
direct and indirect costs is $100,000. Applications requesting Federal
support from NOAA of less than $100,000 total or more than $600,000
total will not be considered for funding.
Publication of this notice does not oblige DOC/NOAA to award any
specific project or to obligate any available funds. If an applicant
incurs any costs prior to receiving an award agreement signed by an
authorized NOAA Grants Officer, the applicant would do so solely at
one's own risk of such costs not being included under the award.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants are accredited institutions of higher
education, other nonprofits, commercial organizations, and state, local
and Indian tribal governments. Federal agencies are not eligible to
receive Federal assistance under this announcement, but may be project
partners. Among those eligible applicants are K through 12 public and
independent schools and school systems, and science centers and
museums. The Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (DOC/NOAA) is strongly committed to increasing the
participation of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), i.e.,
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving
institutions, Tribal colleges and universities, Alaskan Native and
Native Hawaiian institutions, and institutions that work in underserved
communities. Applications are encouraged that involve any of the above
institutions.
Cost Sharing Requirements
There are no cost-sharing requirements.
Evaluation and Selection Procedures
NOAA published its agency-wide solicitation entitled ``Omnibus
Notice Announcing the Availability of Grant Funds for Fiscal Year
2005'' for projects for Fiscal Year 2005 in the Federal Register on
June 30, 2004 (69 FR 39417). The evaluation criteria and selection
procedures for projects contained in that omnibus notice are applicable
to this solicitation. Copies of the notice are available on the
Internet at: http://www.ago.noaa.gov/grants/funding.shtml. Further
details on evaluation and selection criteria can be found in the full
funding opportunity announcement.
Intergovernmental Review
Applications under this program are not subject to Executive Order
12372, ''Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''
Limitation of Liability
In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be responsible
for proposal preparation costs if these programs fail to receive
funding or are cancelled because of other agency priorities.
Publication of this announcement does not oblige NOAA to award any
specific project or to obligate any available funds.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
NOAA must analyze the potential environmental impacts, as required
by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for applicant projects
or proposals which are seeking NOAA federal funding opportunities.
Detailed information on NOAA compliance with NEPA can be found at the
following NOAA NEPA Web site: http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/, including our NOAA Administrative Order 216-6 for NEPA, http://www.nepa.noaa.gov/
[[Page 73208]]
NAO216--6--TOC.pdf, and the Council on Environmental Quality
implementation regulations, http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ceq/toc_ceq.htm.
Consequently, as part of an applicant's package, and under
their description of their program activities, applicants are required
to provide detailed information on the activities to be conducted,
locations, sites, species and habitat to be affected, possible
construction activities, and any environmental concerns that may exist
(e.g., the use and disposal of hazardous or toxic chemicals,
introduction of non-indigenous species, impacts to endangered and
threatened species, aquaculture projects, and impacts to coral reef
systems). In addition to providing specific information that will serve
as the basis for any required impact analyses, applicants may also be
requested to assist NOAA in drafting of an environmental assessment, if
NOAA determines an assessment is required. Applicants will also be
required to cooperate with NOAA in identifying feasible measures to
reduce or avoid any identified adverse environmental impacts of their
proposal. The failure to do so shall be grounds for not selecting an
application. In some cases if additional information is required after
an application is selected, funds can be withheld by the Grants Officer
under a special award condition requiring the recipient to submit
additional environmental compliance information sufficient to enable
NOAA to make an assessment on any impacts that a project may have on
the environment.
The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for
Grants and Cooperative Agreements
The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for
Grants and Cooperative Agreements contained in the Federal Register
notice of December 30, 2004 (69 FR 78389), are applicable to this
solicitation.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This document contains collection-of-information requirements
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The use of Standard Forms
424, 424A, 424B, and SF-LLL and CD-346 has been approved by the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) under the respective control numbers
0348-0043, 0348-0044, 0348-0040, 0348-0046, and 0605-0001.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required
to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply
with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the
PRA unless that collection of information displays a currently valid
OMB control number.
Executive Order 12866
This notice has been determined to be not significant for purposes
of Executive Order 12866.
Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)
It has been determined that this notice does not contain policies
with Federalism implications as that term is defined in Executive Order
13132.
Administrative Procedure Act/Regulatory Flexibility Act
Prior notice and an opportunity for public comment are not required
by the Administrative Procedure Act or any other law for rules
concerning public property, loans, grants, benefits, and contracts (5
U.S.C. 553(a)(2)). Because notice and opportunity for comment are not
required pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553 or any other law, the analytical
requirements for the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.)
are inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis has not
been prepared.
Dated: December 5, 2005.
Helen Hurcombe,
Director, NOAA Acquisitions and Grants, U.S. Department of Commerce.
[FR Doc. E5-7101 Filed 12-8-05; 8:45 am]
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